His & Hers
by amehanaa
Summary: Maybe bringing Lucy to his apartment wasn't the best idea... Or was it?


If Natsu had only one word to describe his life, _average_ would be the last word to enter his mind.

Absolutely nothing about Natsu was average. For starters, he had _pink_ hair. Secondly, he always had a plain white scarf wrapped around his neck—even in the summer. And if that wasn't enough, he had an introvert brother that nobody actually knew was introverted in the first place.

And regrettably, starting today Natsu was going to add another thing to his list. Well, maybe not as regrettably as he first thought; he was bringing a girl home for the first time.

Natsu was one hundred percent certain he was going to win the bet he made with Lucy. But before he even realized it, he found himself declaring his defeat and promising that he'll be Lucy's chef for their date at his apartment.

The thought of taking Lucy home wasn't as nerve-wracking as he assumed it was going to be; however, after remembering that _he_ was also going to be there as well, Natsu's anxiety level subtly began to quiver. She was going to meet the real side of _him._

"Earth to Natsu? What are you thinking about?" Lucy hauled him out of his thoughts as they headed to the apartment complex.

"Nothing," he responded a bit too quickly. He suppressed a wince at the scowl she shot at him. "Can you stop walking for a minute?"

Their synchronized steps came to a stop. Lucy uneasily stared at him until she became too impatient with his silence.

"Don't you dare tell me you're cancelling our dinner date!" she commanded.

"I'm not, I'm not!" he insisted. "But there's something—wait, I mean, _someone_ I want to warn you about."

"Who?" she frowned, folding her arms across her chest. "You've already told me that Happy can be a mess during dinner. Don't worry, I'm prepared for him. I even brought my own—"

"That's not it," he interrupted her with a rejecting shake of his head. "When we get to my apartment, try not to pay too much attention to my brother, alright?"

"What's wrong with Zeref?" she questioned with her unfaltering frown.

"Zeref is different at home than he is in public," he explained cautiously. "Just try not to talk to him too much, okay? Pretend he's not even home."

Natsu was able to see a flicker of confusion and second flicker of adamancy in Lucy's eyes for half a second. Yet after blinking a couple of times, she nodded with a deep breath.

"Fine. I'll do my best," she stated evenly.

"Thanks," Natsu sighed out in relief while beckoning her to resume walking with him. "So, what's on the menu tonight?"

"You're the loser chef, aren't you?" Lucy teased.

"It's Gray's fault I lost the bet!" he proclaimed. "If it weren't for him, I would have definitely been able to hold my breath the longest! He made me laugh just so I could lose, I'm sure of it."

"That's what they all say," she giggled in amusement. "I guess I'll help you cook a little."

Natsu beamed in satisfaction, but after glancing at his apartment complex getting closer with each step, he pressed his lips into a tight, thin line. He had no idea what he was going to be met with once he unlocked the front door. Perhaps Zeref finally decided it's time for a change and decided to explore Magnolia for the rest of day.

"Yeah, right," Natsu muttered under his breath, hiking up the stairs to the second floor. "Alright, Luce, you ready to see where I live?"

"Of course!" she replied excitedly behind him.

 _Now_ Natsu was beginning to feel timid. His lousy two bedroom apartment was surely nothing compared to her luxurious home. Though, that didn't mean he was going to feel ashamed for where he lived.

"Welcome to my home," he proudly presented, pushing open the door and allowing her inside.

"It's so much cleaner than I expected!" Lucy gasped with large eyes. "I didn't think you would be able to keep an apartment this clean!"

"Zeref does all the cleaning," Natsu admitted while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Where is he?" she asked, her voice softer than before, as though she felt too afraid to ask.

"In his room, as always," he responded smoothly. "Come, follow me."

Lucy tried not to allow her eyes to linger on Zeref's closed bedroom door for too long, but she couldn't keep herself from wondering—just how different was he at home? He seemed pretty normal in public; how much different could he be?

"So, what do you have that you can cook for me?" she inquired when she had taken a seat at one of the bar stools in the kitchen.

"Let's see," Natsu hummed to himself, wandering to the fridge and sticking his head inside of it. "We have some chicken and some sandwich I forgot to eat. Looks like Zeref forgot to eat his, too. Oh, this is where my hot sauce went!"

"Why would you have hot sauce in the fridge?" Lucy snorted.

"Happy probably put it in there," he shrugged, taking out the chicken as he closed the fridge. "Guess we're having chicken, then?"

"Guess so," she returned a slight shrug with a faint smile. "Let's get started!"

Despite Natsu being the chef for the day, Lucy couldn't help but be the sous chef for the day along with him. Something about Natsu handling raw poultry made her far more worried than she should be. She wasn't able to fight the urge to help him out, either.

"Not that much pepper!" she exclaimed once they began seasoning the chicken.

"Why not? It'll be tastier this way," he falsely guaranteed, using a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon.

"I don't want to burn off my taste buds," she countered, "either put half a teaspoon, or nothing at all."

"Fine," he obliged with a mumble. Lucy gave a content smile, rewarding him with a pat on the shoulder.

It wasn't until Natsu had started frying the chicken when he noticed the time. It was almost evening—also the time Zeref came out of his room.

"Natsu, the chicken won't be fully cooked if you keep messing with it," Lucy scolded at his unnecessary and frequent pokes. "Give it some time, will you?"

"I want to get this chicken cooked before he—"

Natsu wasn't able to finish his sentence due to the creak of a bedroom door. Gentle footsteps were the sole noise in the dead silent apartment. Natsu held his breath as he cast a look over his shoulder.

"H-Hey, Zeref!" Lucy spoke once the raven-haired teen silently stood at the counter. "How are you?"

It didn't take long for an awkward silence to flood inside the kitchen. Natsu was grateful for the chicken's popping and sizzling.

"What are you making?" Zeref asked, not realizing he ignored Lucy's question.

"Chicken," Natsu answered plainly. "There are sandwiches in the fridge if you're hungry."

"But those are old," Zeref opposed, his gaze falling to the chicken with eyes hinting what he wanted.

Lucy was moments away from offering some pieces of their chicken, yet she didn't get the chance to after Zeref started to take a step.

"The chicken is going to burn," he stated, taking quick strides to the stove.

"Zeref, don't!" Natsu shouted while swiftly trying to reach for the tongs faster than him.

Natsu was only met with air as Zeref snatched the tongs from the counter and flipped the chicken on its other side. One touch was all it took.

Lucy and Natsu shared a grimace, watching Zeref reveal an entirely burnt side of chicken. Natsu inhaled deeply—ready to burst out his anger—but Lucy stopped him by placing a gentle hand on his arm.

"I didn't mean to do this," Zeref said quietly.

"It's fine!" Lucy replied with a reassuring smile. "It's our fault for not watching the chicken properly."

"We would have been able to, if it weren't for you," Natsu glared at Zeref. "You know what you do at home, so why did you still do it?"

Zeref's charcoal eyes flicked from Lucy and Natsu several times. "I didn't think—"

"Well, you should," Natsu cut him off sharply.

Tension began to grow between the three teens as they stared blankly at one another for a couple of seconds. Immediately, the air felt like the life had been sucked out of it. Lucy knew she wasn't imagining the dull aura Zeref was surrounded by. With each passing second, it felt as though the kitchen was becoming smaller and smaller, suffocating them.

"Forget it," Natsu eventually released an aggravated sigh. "Zeref, do us a favor and throw out the chicken. Lucy and I are going out. I'll be back later."

Not waiting for a response from Zeref, Natsu lightly took a hold of Lucy's wrist and brought her outside with him. He closed the door behind them, his hand promptly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry about that," he grumbled. "I should have told Zeref to stay in his room the whole time."

"The chicken was hardly cooked. How did it burn so fast?" Lucy asked hardly above a whisper.

Natsu let out another heavy sigh, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Let's go find a place to eat."

Finding a restaurant as soon as possible due to their empty and growling stomachs, the couple slid into their seats, sitting across one another. Not sure what to say, Lucy stayed silent, swirling her straw in her cup to pass the time. She couldn't bring herself to speak first.

"Ever since Zeref and I were little, he's always had this thing," Natsu began slowly. "We didn't understand what it was until we realized he needed to go see a doctor."

"What does he have?" Lucy questioned softly.

"It's a really long name. I can't remember it," he responded with a nonchalant shrug. "But long story short, Zeref kills everything he touches."

"He _what?"_ her eyes widened, nearly choking on the water she was sipping. "What do you mean?"

"It started off slow," Natsu explained. "First, the light would start to flicker and the microwave would randomly shut off. Then, the TV would only work if he wasn't home. And finally, one day, it came all at once."

"What happened?" she pressed hesitantly, still recovering from choking on her water. "Did your house blow up or something?"

"Wouldn't that be cool!" he grinned. "Imagine all the fire that would—"

"Natsu, be serious!" she demanded with a roll of her eyes.

"Fine, fine. Anyway," he cleared his throat, returning to his previous serious tone. "One day, Zeref started killing everything. All the food in the fridge became spoiled in less than an hour. No matter what he did, _everything_ only lasted at least an hour. Food, electronics, and lights—there wasn't one thing Zeref couldn't burn or kill."

"How is that even possible?" Lucy breathed out with disbelief.

"Our parents had some really strange genes," Natsu gave a second shrug. "I got pink hair, and Zeref got that."

"Why doesn't he kill everything in public?" she blurted out her thoughts, not wanting to pry too much.

"The doctors gave him some patches to wear; they start to wear off after an hour. Zeref hates changing them so much, so he only wears them when he has to."

"That's why Zeref is always the first one to leave when we're all together," she realized as she spoke. "Are the patches uncomfortable?"

"Extremely," Natsu confirmed with a nod. "They're worse than my motion sickness patches."

Lucy cringed in response. She didn't even want to think about how bad Zeref's patches must be if they're worse than Natsu's patches.

"I told him to wear it once you came over, but I guess he forgot," Natsu confessed with frustration sounding at the back of his voice. "And since he forgot, he burned the chicken. I wish he could control it already."

"If Zeref can't control it, we probably wouldn't be able to control it either," she commented.

"Yeah, probably not," Natsu agreed, twiddling his thumbs under the table. "I get it if you don't want to come over again, but I promise I'll make the best chicken you've ever had someday!"

Lucy sent him a smile, her eyes lighting up with his onyx ones. Natsu's eyes were enough for both of them to see the bright side of the situation.

"Okay," she accepted his offer. "Sounds like a plan."

Natsu grinned—he was relieved that Lucy was able to empathize with Zeref. The last time Natsu had told someone about his brother, they never entered their apartment again.

Maybe Lucy didn't mind Zeref's undesirable quirk after all.

* * *

There was no doubt in Natsu's mind that Lucy minded Zeref's undesirable quirk.

It had been exactly seven days since she had last came over. Although Natsu had invited her over every single day since then, she would either say she was busy or she had plans with Levy.

"This sucks, Happy," he groaned after the week had passed. He sat crisscrossed on his bed, leaning against the wall. "The new chicken I bought is going to go bad soon."

Happy meowed as his reply; Natsu fluently understood his cat language, so he nodded while listening.

"Right? It's all Zeref's fault," Natsu said. "I reminded him to wear his patches, but he didn't! Lucy is never going to even think about coming here again."

"I can hear you, you know," Zeref poked his head into Natsu's room through the halfway opened door.

"That's the point," Natsu glared towards him. "Because of you, Lucy isn't going to come anymore!"

"Is it because of me or is it because of the chicken?" Zeref inquired with all the seriousness in the world. "Did you and Lucy leave because of the chicken or because of me?"

"Because of you," Natsu replied with no hesitation.

"So if you were the one who burned the chicken, you still wouldn't have gone out somewhere else?" Zeref continued to ask.

Natsu instantly clenched his fists beneath his bedsheets. Zeref was always a master at asking questions that made anyone second guess themselves. When it came to things like this, he always won against Natsu.

"Okay, it was because of the chicken!" Natsu threw his hands up in defeat. "But _you_ were the reason why the chicken was burned."

"And I'd like to apologize for that," Zeref admitted. "I should have worn the patches, though the reason I didn't was because I was expecting someone to come over."

"Mavis?" Natsu predicted without a second thought. "Why didn't you tell me she was coming over?"

"Because Lucy was coming over," Zeref replied easily.

"Were you just going to sneak Mavis into your room or something?" a snicker left Natsu's lips. "You think _I_ would let that happen? Yeah, right!"

"I-I wasn't going to _sneak_ her in my room," Zeref stuttered, a rare shade of pink blossoming on his cheeks. "I was simply going to let her be inside my room with me."

"You know the rules," Natsu remarked with a smirk.

"The door must be more than halfway open if a person of the opposite sex is inside of it," the brothers recited simultaneously.

"Anyway," Zeref shook his head to dismiss the subject. "Next time you invite Lucy over, I'll make it up to you two."

"How so?" Natsu inquired.

"You'll see," the corners of Zeref's lips twitched up into a small smile.

"Don't do that, it's creepy," Natsu shuddered at the sight. "But alright, I'll take your word for it. Make sure to wear your patches, though, alright?"

"Alright," Zeref responded with a nod. "Goodnight now."

"Night," Natsu yawned out as his door was shut. A smile faintly appeared on his lips. The last time the two of them had an actual conversation was before Lucy came over. It was nice to know that they were finished giving each other the usual silent treatment they did after a fight.

"Enough of that," he muttered, shoving away his thoughts to the back of his mind. Seizing his phone from the nightstand, Natsu sent the fastest text he had ever typed in his life.

"You're coming to my house tomorrow or else!" he texted to Lucy. He didn't want to be overly demanding, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

In the short amount of time between the message being sent and her response, Natsu peered at his phone, impatiently waiting for it to light up again. And once it did, he didn't waste a moment to read her reply.

"Okay. What are we going to eat?"

Natsu viewed the message for a couple of seconds. _He_ wasn't even sure what they were going to eat. Somehow, the thought of making chicken again only made him feel like history was going to repeat itself. Crossing his legs on his bed, he allowed his thumbs to do the talking.

"It's a surprise."

* * *

"I made sure Zeref is wearing his patches today," Natsu stated the next day while he led Lucy to his apartment.

"If he's too uncomfortable with them on, he doesn't have to wear them," Lucy assured.

"Really?" he lifted a surprised brow. "You're the first person to think that way. Gray always wants him to wear two, just in case."

"Zeref shouldn't be uncomfortable because of me," she responded, slightly embarrassed for saying it aloud.

A smile peeked out of Natsu before he was able to stop it. It was moments like this when he could tell the warm feeling in his chest wasn't a coincidence. On instinct, he reached for Lucy's hand, his chest becoming even warmer when she entwined their fingers together. Natsu was amazed he could feel like this because of something so simple.

"We're home!" he called out once the couple reached the apartment. "Whoa, Zeref, you're actually outside of your room."

"Welcome back," Zeref greeted the two from the living room. "How was your day?"

Lucy opened her mouth to answer. "It was—"

"Man, I'm hungry!" Natsu loudly groaned, making his way to the kitchen.

"Natsu, don't interrupt people," Zeref and Lucy chided simultaneously. On cue, their bewildered eyes locked. Yet before either of them could say something, the lights started to flicker.

"Looks like the patch is already wearing off," Zeref mumbled to himself, though Lucy was able to hear. "I'll be back."

"No, wait!" she shouted to stop him. "You don't need to put another patch on."

"Are you sure?" he cocked his head to the side. "We won't be able to do much if I don't have it on."

"It's okay," she replied. "We can do something else instead."

"Like what?" he questioned.

"Natsu, do you have any board games or something?" she suggested, finding him in the kitchen, rummaging in the fridge.

"Zeref is a board game nerd," Natsu scoffed. "Yeah, let me go find one."

The two shared a smile as he went into the hallway in search for a board game. Lucy tried not to overtly stare at Zeref once he folded up his sleeve and slowly peeled off the patch on his arm. Then, moments after the patch was removed, the lights switched off.

"Good thing it's still light outside," she said optimistically, but it sounded more forced than she intended.

"It'll be back on soon," Zeref answered.

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. Before she was able to ask, Natsu bolted into the living room with a rectangular box in his hands.

"I have the perfect game!" he declared with a childish grin.

Lucy couldn't help but share his excitement. After settling down at the small table in the living room, she read the title of the game. Out of all board games, a game about _life_ was the one Natsu picked? She had no idea what to expect; however, she started to get an idea once she noticed Zeref gulp.

"You start with a car and yourself," Natsu spoke as he passed out the plastic cars and figures. "The person who spins the highest number on the wheel is the one who goes first!"

"Yes!" Lucy cheered when she had spun the wheel and landed on the highest number.

"And Zeref is last," Natsu concluded.

"Let's just get this over with," Zeref sighed.

Since Natsu was the first one to begin, it wasn't a surprise to Lucy that he had no idea whether to begin the game with going to college or having a career. But what _was_ a surprise was seeing Zeref pick his career as criminal justice. She was certain he was going to pick something like, science and exploration. It was then when Lucy could tell—playing a board game with the Dragneel brothers was going to be interesting.

And oh, _interesting_ was an understatement. One second Natsu was spinning the wheel so vigorously it leaped off the board, the next second was spent listening to Zeref lecture him, and the second after that Lucy's cheeks began to throb from grinning so wide.

"Zeref, you're not doing too well," she pointed out with a giggle during the middle of the game. "You still don't have a family yet."

"You're horrible!" Natsu howled, pounding his fist on the floor. "Lucy and I already have mansions! What house do you have?"

"There's nothing wrong with a mobile home," Zeref stated calmly, although there was a subtle twitch in the corner of his eyes. "And I chose to not have a family."

Lucy decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, but as the game continued, Zeref's misfortune was just too much.

" _And_ you just got into another car accident!" Natsu went back to hammering the floor.

"It's not polite to laugh at other people," Lucy attempted to keep a straight face, though she wasn't able to after seeing Zeref's hard gaze at the board, his bottom lip forming a small pout. Before she was able to suppress it, her laughs started to escape.

The rest of the game only made her laugh even harder. No matter what Zeref landed on, he either lost a family member, or was paying the bank hundreds of dollars. Natsu's strange choices in life, like, sending a child to school when he didn't even have a child yet, made her stomach ache. By the end of the game, Lucy's cheeks were entirely flushed.

"I need a break," she giggled out, holding onto her stomach. "Where's your restroom?"

"Here, I'll show you," Natsu offered his hand out and helped her stand up.

"You two are really funny when playing board games," she complimented, holding back another laugh.

"I know," he sent her a smile. "There isn't much laughter in this place when we're alone, so it's nice having some here."

"Glad I was able to help," she replied happily once she was led to the restroom. "I'll meet you back in the living room."

Taking a few minutes to refresh herself, Lucy fanned herself to calm her pink cheeks. Even though she was having loads of fun playing the game, she was beginning to feel it— _hunger._ She bit her lip while she exited the restroom, not knowing how dinner was going to be made.

Lucy was so focused on her thoughts, she didn't notice she had stepped towards the bookshelf at the end of the hallway. Her eyes widened after reading the book titles; she wasn't familiar with any of them.

Immediately intrigued by the books she had no idea existed, she slid one out and leafed through the thin pages. She began to gape once she realized that these weren't ordinary books—they were hand-written.

"Amazing," she whispered to herself in awe.

"I'm glad you think so," a voice spoke behind her.

"Sorry!" Lucy jumped, the book slipping from her hands and falling onto the floor with a muffled thud. "I-I didn't mean—"

"Natsu told me you like books," Zeref said before dipping down and picking up the book for her. "Turns out, I've written several of them."

"I'm sure they're great!" she exclaimed. "What's your favorite book you've written?"

"It's this one," he answered as he reached for a book on the shelf. "It's called E.N.D. Here, take a look."

Lucy didn't hesitate to accept the book he offered out to her. Her heartbeat accelerated in anticipation while she opened the book to the first page.

"I believe it's my best work yet," Zeref beamed.

"What…" she began breathlessly, already gawking at the first page. "What does E.N.D. stand for?"

"Embarrassing Natsu Dragneel, of course," he revealed with twinkling eyes.

"This is the best photo album I've ever seen!" Lucy proclaimed with a chortle. "Why is Natsu holding a huge egg?!"

"He thought Happy would hatch out of it," Zeref chuckled.

"Look at him!" she gasped for air, squeezing the edge of the book from laughing too much. She quickly turned the pages, looking forward to every picture of Natsu.

"Don't tell him I showed you this," Zeref told her firmly, although his eyes were still bright with amusement.

"I won't," she promised with a large grin. There was no doubt she was ever going to forget about Natsu's baby pictures—especially the ones that were taken when he was in the bathtub. She was about to ask if there were any extra copies of E.N.D. books, but she paused after hearing several loud knocks coming from the front door.

"Looks like dinner is here," Zeref stated. "Let's go."

Reluctantly returning the book back to its rightful home, Lucy trailed behind Zeref and went back to the living room.

Natsu scrutinized at her. "What were you two laughing about?"

"I'll tell you later," she smiled at him, giving his hand a quick squeeze.

"Not fair, Luce," he sent her a pout.

Lucy averted her gaze from his puppy eyes by focusing her attention to Zeref opening the door. The second it opened, every single light in the apartment switched on.

"What?" Lucy's mouth fell in surprise, looking at all the lights illuminating the room.

"Fairy Tail's pizza delivery!" a bubbly voice announced from outside. "50 Jewel, please!"

"Come on, Mavis, can't we get a discount?" Natsu whined.

"You know we can't ask for that," Zeref responded while he let the short blonde-haired female inside the apartment.

"I would if I could, Natsu," Mavis giggled lightly, her eyes promptly landing on Lucy. "Oh! Who is this? Natsu, is this your girlfriend?!"

"N-No way!" Natsu asserted, roughly tugging his scarf up his face to hide his crimson cheeks.

"We're just friends," Lucy replied with a small smile.

"For now," Mavis gave her a subtle wink. "Well, I'm Mavis, Zeref's girlfriend. Nice to meet you!"

Lucy tried not to make her shock too obvious. "It's nice to meet you, too! I'm Lucy."

"Since I ruined your dinner the other night, I decided to make it up to you by ordering pizza that is impossible for me to burn," Zeref informed as Mavis excitedly placed the pizza box on the counter and quickly opened it. It didn't take long for Mavis and Natsu to start drooling by just staring at it.

"Is it because of Mavis?" Lucy inquired.

Zeref nodded. "Mavis is the only one who can make me feel normal."

"And Zeref is the only one who can make me feel normal," Mavis added proudly once she had taken a slice of pizza.

"Do you two have the same thing?" Lucy questioned carefully, not sure if it was rude to ask.

"Can you believe it?" Natsu spoke, shoving a whole pizza slice into his mouth. "Because they both have the same quirk, they somehow counterbalance each other."

"Which means no uncomfortable patches for us!" Mavis proclaimed gleefully while Zeref simply watched her bounce on her heels.

"If only Lucy could make my motion sickness go away when we're together," Natsu mumbled unhappily.

"Hey!" she scowled at him. "I try my best to help you not think about it!"

"Maybe we should get what Zeref and Mavis have, Luce," he rubbed his chin in thought, but he grinned when she gave him a light smack on the shoulder.

"You don't want to be us," Zeref assured.

"I think it's pretty fun being us," Mavis stated with a gentle smile.

"Yep, Luce, we're becoming them," Natsu confirmed. "There's no going back now."

"Why don't I get a say in this?!" Lucy exclaimed frantically. "How are we even going to be like them, anyway?"

"For Halloween, of course," Natsu grinned.

"Halloween just passed, Natsu," Zeref reminded him.

"Which means Lucy and I have a year to plan our costumes!" Natsu declared.

Lucy leaned back against the counter with a helpless sigh. She knew there was no way out of it after seeing Mavis's emerald eyes radiate at the thought.

"Oh, it's almost time!" Mavis gasped, dashing to the couch in front of the TV. "Come on, Zeref!"

"What are they watching?" Lucy asked Natsu curiously. Even Zeref, who never seemed to rush at all, began to hurriedly turn on the TV.

"Zeref and Mavis like to watch game shows together to see who can answer the most questions correctly," he responded.

Lucy's eyes widened, but after watching the two shout answers at one another, a smile placed itself on her lips. "Hey, Natsu."

"What?"

"I don't think I'd mind being like them, even if it wasn't Halloween."

Natsu leaned against Lucy's shoulder with a light yawn, not noticing their fingers were already laced together.

"Yeah, me either."

* * *

 **Whoa, I'm actually alive! I know, it's hard to believe after being gone for so long, haha. I feel like I need to reintroduce myself...**

 **Hi, my name is Ame and I have missed you _so much,_ you don't even know. **

**My life feels as if it's set on play, sped up to fast forward, and doesn't have an end. I've been (and going) through so much lately, I wish I had more time to write. Believe it or not, this one-shot took almost a month to write. :-( But at least it's done! That's the only thing that matters.**

 **So, on the subject of this one-shot, this was actually a request by the user Child at Heart Forever, who is the sweetest person you will ever talk to in your life. _All_ credit goes to her, though I wish I was brilliant enough to think of E.N.D. standing for Embarrassing Natsu Dragneel. :')**

 **I really hope I was able to serve her idea its justice! I had a lot of fun writing it omg. It was initially supposed to be Zervis (my guilty pleasure at the moment)** **, but... I will always be a Nalu writer, forever and always. Regardless, I still hope it was good enough!**

 **I decided that this month is going to be my comeback month. I _will_ update DWTD by November 7! I will write until I collapse if that's what it takes. **

**I really can't wait to talk to you guys again! And I can't wait to see if there's anyone new out there in the crowd. ;-) Don't be afraid to review or send me a message!**

 **Thank you so much for reading! Happy November 1st! ~**


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